Intel reveals next-generation Atom details — SAN FRANCISCO — This past Thursday, Intel briefed journalists on its forthcoming Atom version, codenamed Pine Trail, and on its plans to launch a slew of new processors at CES. Apart from the launch details, the company's general message …

Will Intel's Atom overhaul fuel another netbook boom? — Intel is revamping its Atom processor platform in a move that will yield more powerful netbooks, better efficiency and smaller designs. Will Intel set off another netbook boom? — On Monday, Intel made its overhaul of its Atom platform official (statement, Techmeme).

Content-Search Deals Make Twitter Profitable — Data-mining deals signed in October will bring in $25 million in exchange for rendering Twitter's tweets searchable on Google and Microsoft Bing — Twitter is ending 2009 on a high note. The microblogging site has reached profitability …

Ford's Wired Fleet: WiFi Hotspots on Four Wheels — Ford is making a serious bid for geeks' business. Scott Monty, the auto company's Internet-famous social media head, wrote to us tonight with some of the most exciting car-related news an Internet-dependent nerd could wish for.

World Map Of Social Networks Shows Rise Of Facebook — (click through for larger version, interactive widget below) — Italian writer, blogger and photographer Vincenzo Cosenza has for the second time put together a visualization that shows the most popular social networks around the world on a map …

Motorola Opus One specifications — When we say we have specifications, boy, do we mean it. One of our connects has sent us the full rundown on Motorla's Opus One (their first iDEN Android handset) that we revealed a little while back. The features on the device are actually pretty reasonable …

Location-Based Ads Come to Augmented Reality in the US — Location-based social network Brightkite announced this morning that it has added what it calls the first mobile Augmented Reality advertising for US markets to its AR layer in the Layar augmented reality browser.

Search Captions on Hulu — Today we've added a new beta feature to the site in Hulu Labs: Captions Search. You can now search the captions for thousands of videos across hundreds of shows. — You can initiate a captions search from the Hulu Labs page for the feature …

The Start Project Launches To Create, Incubate Startups — A group of entrepreneurs and investors have partnered to create a new Silicon Valley based business incubator called The Start Project. — Behind the new company are Polaris Venture Partners, the founders of 83 Degrees (Webshots …

Trading Shares in Milliseconds — Today's stock market has become a world of automated transactions executed at lightning speed. This high-frequency trading could make the financial system more efficient, but it could also turn small mistakes into catastrophes.

ICD Ultra Android tablet hands-on — As you may have noticed, we had a chance to get our hands on a fairly interesting little tablet made by ICD dubbed the Ultra. The 7-inch, touchscreen tablet (resistive in the version we saw, but with capacitive versions to come) sports quite an impressive set of specs …

To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook — Facebook, the popular networking site, has 350 million members worldwide who, collectively, spend 10 billion minutes there every day, checking in with friends, writing on people's electronic walls, clicking through photos and generally keeping pace with the drift of their social world.

Nook 1.1 update hitting now — Right on schedule, the Barnes and Noble Nook is kicking out a software update (we rebooted to get the download to start). We've heard this will fix some of the issues we had with the unit in our review — but we'll update you once we've had a little time to play around with it.

BBC to allow internet through TV — The BBC will be bringing internet services to the television set, it has been disclosed. — Plans to allow the BBC to use the new technology, which will enable viewers to watch shows from a variety of programme-makers and channels through …

Google readies launch of iPhone rival — Search engine company tests mobile operators' reaction to its Nexus One handset — Google has approached several mobile phone operators in the UK, including T-Mobile and Vodafone, to gauge their interest in supporting its rival to the iPhone ahead of its launch in Britain next year.

New Programs Aim to Lure Young Into Digital Jobs — Growing up in the '70s, John Halamka was a bookish child with a penchant for science and electronics. He wore black horn-rimmed glasses and buttoned his shirts up to the collar. — “I was constantly being called a geek or a nerd,” he recalled, chuckling.

Automated to Death — As software pilots more of our vehicles, humans can pay the ultimate price. Robert N. Charette investigates the causes and consequences of the automation paradox — The passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines Flight 124 were just settling into their five-hour flight …

Limelight Networks Acquires EyeWonder For $110 Million — Content management company Limelight Networks has bought interactive ad shop EyeWonder for $110 million. About $62 million of that will be in cash, though that amount could be adjusted, depending on EyeWonder's financial condition at the time of the deal's closing.

Maine to consider cell phone cancer warning — A Maine legislator wants to make the state the first to require cell phones to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, although there is no consensus among scientists that they do and industry leaders dispute the claim.